Swansea 1-2 Watford: Richarlison snatches late win as Swansea's home woes continue

By Michael Hincks

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Richarlison's late winner helped Watford edge past Swansea 2-1 and record a third successive Premier League victory away from home.

Andre Gray's first goal for Watford handed the visitors a deserved lead (13) before Tammy Abraham responded after the break (56).

And with both teams going for the victory late on, Richarlison capitalised on some lax Swansea defending to steal all three points for the Hornets in the 90th minute.

Defeat for Swansea is their third on the spin at the Liberty Stadium, while Watford - who have now won three top-flight games in a row for the first time in their history - move up to fifth in the table.

Image: Richarlison's 90th-minute winner handed Watford a third successive top-flight away victory for the first time in the club's history

Player ratings

Swansea: Fabianski (5), Naughton (5), Van der Hoorn (6), Fernandez (6), Mawson (4), Olsson (5), Clucas (6), Fer (6), Carroll (7), Ayew (6), Bony (6)

Subs: Abraham (7), Roque Mesa (5), Sanches (N/A)

Watford: Gomes (6), Femenia (7), Mariappa (6), Holebas (6), Kabasele (6), Carrillo (7), Doucoure (6), Capoue (5), Cleverley (6), Gray (7), Richarlison (7)

Subs: Wague (6), Pereyra (NA), Deeney (N/A)

Man of the match: Kiko Femenia

Watford started brightly and Gray almost broke the deadlock after six minutes, but his effort deflected wide after a superb block from Mike van der Hoorn.

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Seven minutes later, Wilfried Bony's wayward pass found Gray, who played it out wide for Andre Carrillo before latching onto a loose ball six yards out to fire the visitors ahead.

Image: Andre Gray (R) celebrates his first Watford goal with team-mate Andre Carrilo (L)

Swansea responded well, but Federico Fernandez could not convert at the back post after Leroy Fer's header glanced across goal, Gray intercepted Alfie Mawson's back-pass but fired wide and Bony sent a free header off target as frustration mounted among the home fans.

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Team news

Tammy Abraham and Renato Sanches were both named on the bench as Wilfried Bony and Leroy Fer came into Swansea's starting XI.
For Watford, Kiki Femenia started at right-back ahead of Daryl Janmaat, while Nathaniel Chalobah (knee) was replaced by Abdoulaye Doucoure.

The mood was lifted at half-time as an attacking move saw Paul Clement bring on Abraham and Roque Mesa for Van der Hoorn and Sam Clucas and it was Abraham whose impact was most telling, the England U21 striker tapping home the equaliser 11 minutes into the second half after Heurelho Gomes parried Bony's fierce strike.

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A tense affair ensued as both sides chased victory, and it was Richarlison who struck gold at the death as Swansea were made to pay for more defensive mistakes.

Roque Mesa's pass ricocheted off Troy Deeney and fell for Richarlison, who somehow evaded Mawson's challenge before bearing down on goal and smashing it in off the bar. Lukasz Fabianski got a touch to the effort but was powerless to prevent the Swans from slipping to another disappointing defeat at home.

Image: Problems mount at home for Swansea boss Paul Clement

Opta stats

  • Watford have won three consecutive top-flight away matches for the first time in their history.
  • Swansea have lost three consecutive Premier League home games for the first time under one manager since January 2014 under Michael Laudrup.
  • Watford won their first away league game versus Swansea since February 1983, ending a five-game winless run.
  • Richarlison has scored with two of his three shots on target in the Premier League.

The pundit

Charlie Nicholas says Swansea made endless mistakes during their 2-1 defeat against Watford.

The managers

Paul Clement: "We were really poor in the first half. The second half we were much better but overall it was a 90-minute game where we played for 40 minutes.

"On 90 minutes, a misplaced pass, a missed tackle and that should never have happened."

Swansea boss Paul Clement was unhappy with his side's performance over the ninety minutes as they lost 2-1 to Watford, saying they gifted their opponents two goals.

Marco Silva: "In the last minutes we scored and it shows to me our players never lose the focus and belief.

"Every time this is important, and we are lucky in this instance, but when you believe, anything can happen."

Watford boss Marco Silva felt his side controlled the first half during their win over Swansea and says the victory shows his players never lose belief and focus.

Man of the match - Kiko Femenia

Summer signing Kiko Femenia started at right-back for Watford and impressed in both attack and defence. The Spaniard made more tackles (5) and interceptions (3) than any other player on the pitch, while his link-up play with Andre Carillo was equally as impressive.

What's next?

Swansea travel to London Stadium next Saturday to take on West Ham at 3pm. Meanwhile, Watford are in action at the same time against West Brom at the Hawthorns.

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